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Reuters

Business

Paul Carrel and Noah Barkin

G20 communique agreed apart from climate issue - EU officials

Leaders attends a working session at the G20 leaders summit in Hamburg, Germany July 8, 2017 REUTERS/Michael Kappeler, Pool

By Paul Carrel and Noah Barkin

HAMBURG (Reuters) - World leaders meeting for a summit in Germany have agreed every aspect of a joint statement apart from the section on climate where the United States is pushing for a reference to fossil fuels, European Union officials said on Saturday.

The officials said aides had worked until 2 a.m. to finalise a communique for the Group of 20, overcoming differences on trade after U.S. officials agreed to language on fighting protectionism.

U.S. President Donald Trump talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker during a working session at the G20 leaders summit in Hamburg, Germany July 8, 2017. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

"The outcome is good. We have a communique. There is one issue left, which is on climate, but I am hopeful we can find a compromise," said one EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We have all the fundamentals.

"We have a G20 communique, not a G19 communique," he added.

The section that needs to be resolved by the leaders relates to the U.S. insistence that there be a reference to fossil fuels, the official said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks with German Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schaeuble during a working session at the G20 leaders summit in Hamburg, Germany July 8, 2017. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

With the final statement almost nailed down, the summit marked a diplomatic success for Chancellor Angela Merkel as she finessed differences with U.S. President Donald Trump, who arrived at the two-day summit isolated on a host of issues.

Trump, who on Friday found chemistry in his first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, congratulated Merkel for her stewardship of the summit.

"You have been amazing and you have done a fantastic job. Thank you very much chancellor," he said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan chats with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during their meeting at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany July 8, 2017. Kayhan Ozer/Presidential Palace/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE.

Trump and Putin on Friday discussed alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. election but agreed to focus on future ties rather than dwell on the past, a result that was sharply criticised by leading Democrats in Congress.

For Merkel, the summit is an opportunity to show off her diplomatic skills ahead of a federal election in September, when she is seeking a fourth term in office.

She treated the leaders to a concert at Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie on Friday night, where they listened to Beethoven while their aides began their all night slog to work out a consensus on trade that had eluded the leaders.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a working session at the G20 leaders summit in Hamburg, Germany July 8, 2017. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

Trade policy has become more contentious since Trump entered the White House promising an "America First" approach.

The trade section in the statement the aides thrashed out read: "We will keep markets open noting the importance of reciprocal and mutually advantageous trade and investment frameworks and the principle of non-discrimination, and continue to fight protectionism including all unfair trade practices and recognise the role of legitimate trade defence instruments in this regard."

(L to R) Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attend the panel discussion "Launch Event Women's Entrepreneur Finance Initiative" on the second day of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 8, 2017. REUTERS/Patrik STOLLARZ/Pool

CLIMATE CLASH

Climate change policy proved a sticking point, with the United States pressing for inclusion of wording about which other countries had reservations.

That passage read: "... the United States of America will endeavour to work closely with other partners to help their access to and use of fossil fuels more cleanly and efficiently ..."

Russian President Vladimir Putin looks on before a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany July 8, 2017. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

The climate section took note of Trump's decision last month to withdraw the United States from the landmark Paris climate accord aimed at combating climate change, and reaffirmed the commitment of the other 19 members to the agreement.

Merkel chose to host the summit in Hamburg, the port city where she was born, to send a signal about Germany's openness to the world, including its tolerance of peaceful protests.

As the leaders met on Saturday, police helicopters hovered overhead. Overnight, police clashed with anti-capitalist protesters seeking to disrupt the summit.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel poses with participants for the family photo at the Women’s Entrepreneurship Finance event during the G20 leaders summit in Hamburg, Germany July 8, 2017. REUTERS/Michael Kappeler, Pool

In the early morning, heavily armed police commandos moved in after activists had spent much of Friday attempting to wrest control of the streets from more than 15,000 police, setting fires, looting and building barricades.

The summit is being held only a few hundred metres from one of Germany's most potent symbols of left-wing resistance, a former theatre called the "Rote Flora" which was taken over by anti-capitalist squatters nearly three decades ago.

Police said 200 officers had been injured, 134 protesters temporarily detained and another 100 taken into custody.